Reception of 'The Salesman' at Cannes

On Friday night, the film 'The Salesman' was finally screened at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. The film generated a lot of curiosity and excitement, especially due to the relatively disappointing performances of many big names with their new films, which heightened this curiosity. The outcome largely managed to meet these expectations. A young couple, both theater actors, are unexpectedly forced to move their residence in Tehran. They settle in an emergency situation in a place where the previous tenant was a sex worker. The events stemming from that woman's work have a heavy impact on the lives of this couple, portrayed well by Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti. Asghar Farhadi, in narrating this story, employs his well-known method of utilizing simple details and meticulously arranges the pieces of his screenplay. He, as expected, accompanies the main event of his story with ambiguity to pave the way for various speculations that create a space for the recurring theme of 'judgment'. In 'The Salesman', themes such as lying and social hypocrisy can again be traced, but here the presentation of issues takes on a sharper and more explicit tone due to the film's intense subject matter. 'The Salesman' marks a return to the path and style of Asghar Farhadi's filmmaking. It is an engaging and tense film with a social theme arising from the complex human relationships in today's Tehran, creating its suspenseful atmosphere through masterful portrayals of seemingly simple human situations. For many, this film can largely remind them of 'Wednesday's Soori'. Here too, the life situation of a couple is disrupted by the presence of a stranger. This time, the stranger has entered their lives completely unintentionally and becomes a factor revealing another face of them. Notably, the film features a parallel narrative with the famous play 'Death of a Salesman' by Arthur Miller performed by two characters in the film. Thus, there is a kind of effort in the parallel narration of cinema and theater in this film, which is new in Farhadi's portfolio. However, many critics considered this part of the film its main weakness, deeming it unnecessary for advancing the story. Another noteworthy point in the film is the reference to Gholamhossein Saedi and his famous short story 'The Cow', a short story from the book 'The Mourning of Bill', which later inspired Dariush Mehrjui to create one of the most acclaimed films in the history of Iranian cinema. Unlike the play 'Death of a Salesman', one can see thoughtful signs of the story of 'The Cow' accompanying the characters' situations in the film. The use of the song 'Prelude' by Ali Azimi, an Iranian singer and musician residing abroad, is also another notable aspect. The screening of 'The Salesman' for media representatives was not without controversy. The film's screening was halted shortly after it began due to a technical issue and resumed a few minutes later from the beginning. Such an incident reminded Iranian viewers of the hasty screenings of unfinished versions of films at the Fajr Film Festival. 'The Salesman' was the twentieth film from this year's competition section at the Cannes Film Festival, screened on Friday night. Only one film, titled 'Elle' by the renowned Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, remains in this section, and speculation about this year's hopeful films has already begun. Many critics believe that 'The Salesman', alongside the Romanian film 'Graduation', were the best films of the festival's second half. Nevertheless, some discuss the high chances of 'The Salesman' winning the Palme d'Or. On the same night, awards were given in the Cinefondation section, which is dedicated to short films by mostly young and student filmmakers, and an Iranian filmmaker was able to win the second prize in this section. The jury, chaired by the famous Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase, deemed Hamid Ahmadi's film 'In the Hills' worthy of the second prize and financial support of 11,200 euros. The film narrates the story of a seemingly foreign young man residing in Britain who, in addition to his official job as a worker in a food shop, becomes a sexual partner for various couples. The film has a novel atmosphere that engages the viewer with a decent and professional performance. 'In the Hills' participated in the Cinefondation section as a product of Britain and was one of three short films made by Iranian filmmakers residing abroad that were presented as products of other countries in this section. The other two films, 'Silence' and 'Calm', were presented as products of Italy and France, respectively.